Don't Lose Hope
by Tartarus208
Summary: Percy Jackson lost everything and is dying of starvation. Hestia has watched his suffering and decides she needs to help. Will he accept, or will he allow his string to be cut? Character deaths.


**AN: Instead of working on my other story, The Time Has Come, I decided to do a one-shot of Percy and Hestia. It's not what the vote was about. I just got bored. It's not a pairing, it's just the only characters involved in it.**

** _Hestia POV:_**

****I watched the young demigod after the war, but nothing can make him happy anymore. His friends, family, and soon-to-be life, is gone. The campers feared for his sanity, so they threw him out. It only made things worse. His father was deep in his grief, and soon cut all ties that reminded him of Sally. Including Percy. So now, I'm watching the once-great hero succumb to starvation in a dark ally. I need to do something.

**_Percy POV:_**

****Soon. That's the word that resonates around my skull. It says many things. Soon I'll see my mom, Paul, Nico, Annabeth, and everyone else. Soon I can go where I'm wanted. Soon I'll be able to be with my family. Soon... soon.

During the war, all my friends died. Thalia? Sacrificed herself to save Artemis, and she now lives in the stars. I look up and sadly, I can't see the constellations. It was beautiful. Two huntresses working side by side, in perfect harmony, forever hunting the Ursa Major.

Nico? He went berserk after Gaea taunted him about Bianca, making him charge and fail his post. Protecting the wounded. Clarisse, Leo, Jason, Frank... none stood a chance. It was a massacre. I soon saw him fall on the battlefield, and when I got to him, he told me what happened, and he soon too, perished.

Mom? Paul? They were burned alive in their house in retaliation to Gaea losing, just one day after. I had a sister on the way too. She was going to be named Ariel, after The Little Mermaid.

Annabeth? Construction accident on Olympus. She was dead instantly as a marble column fell on her after the foundation failed.

Dad? He was nowhere to be found. I prayed, pleaded, and even tried to swim to Atlantis, but it was hidden from me. I can only assume that Triton took over. I mean Dad wouldn't do that. Right?

Chiron and the campers feared for my sanity, so to keep me from striking out, they banished me from both camps. An order Octavian had no objections to.

So now, I'm here waiting for death to take me as I feel my sting being frayed, soon to be cut by the fates. I sit and wait to die, feeling abandoned, depressed, and hopeless. I sit and wait to die, watching my life roll by before my very eyes. I sit and wait to die, smiling slightly because I'll be somewhere better. A familiar woman walks by and stops in her tracks. She digs through her purse and pulls out $100. She holds it out to me, waiting for me to take it. I chuckle painfully, feeling the hunger gnaw at my midsection, and push the money back towards her. She is about to protest, but I talk instead. My voice comes out sounding like more of a croak.

"Keep it. You need it more than I do. My life is almost gone. Yes, I am hungry, but I wouldn't eat anyway. My suffering is almost over. But please. Promise me something. Never lose your hope as I have. Keep your friend close because they can be taken from you at a moment's notice. Like a wise woman once said, 'As long as the hearth burns, hope can be found.' My hope is gone, and this is the result. Cherish it and keep it alive because without it, life isn't worth living."

The woman looked at me with pity, but I saw a glimmer of flame in them. I smiled slightly, feeling my life on the edge of scissors. "But I thank you for visiting me Hestia. It was good to see you again. I hope you will visit, with what little bit of hope of mine is left." Hestia looked surprised, but soon gave me a hug. That one hug, filled with hope and warmth, allowed me to smile and whisper a soft goodbye as my string was cut, and I left the one friend I still had in life.

**_Hestia POV:_**

****When he found out who I was, I was honestly surprised. I had the best disguises. But I soon walked up to him and gave him a heartfelt hug filled with hope and warmth. I felt him smile against my shoulder and whisper goodbye before falling limp.

I stood and teleported myself and his body to Olympus for a proper burial. I prepared his body in green wrappings, and set him upon my hearth, where his ashes will eternally stay, forever emblazoned by the fire of hope. After the burning, I added a quote to my blank hearth, which says,_ "Never lose your hope. Cherish it and keep it alive because without it, life isn't with living. -Perseus Jackson"_ I sat down upon the ground, tending to my flame. After an hour or so, I called an emergency meeting, to which seconds later, everyone appeared in the throne room. "Who calls this meeting?" Zeus thundered, looking slightly annoyed. "I did brother." I called from the hearth. He looked at me in surprise. "And to what did you call this meeting?" he inquired. I sighed tiredly, knowing they wouldn't take the two things I would say. "Our savior, Perseus Jackson, has died from starvation after being kicked out of the only home he had." The throne room was in shocked silence. "How did this happen?" Poseidon asked tearfully. I told them all that had happened and at the end, everyone was looking down in shame, and Poseidon was sobbing uncontrollably, only to have Athena, of all people, comforting him. "W-Where is h-his b-b-body?" Poseidon asked shakily, tears streaking down his face. Everyone looked on in pity, knowing it must be torture knowing you pushed your child away when they needed you. "In my hearth." I answered, watching them look at the green ashes in my hearth, and the engraving upon it. "I also called this meeting for another reason." The Olympians looked at me curiously. "It has come to my attention that we _need_ children of the Big Three. Without them in this last war, we would've been vanquished. I say you should release your oath, unless, of course, Hera doesn't want Zeus to cheat." After a long debate, the oath was lifted.

**_Epilogue_**

****1,000 years later, Gaea rose again, but with the help of the Big Three children, she was put to sleep once again. They almost fell too, but followed the advice inscribed upon my hearth. Poseidon, despite the fact that the oath was lifted, hadn't had another child until 18 years before Gaea rose, and this child, too, was the child of the prophecy. He looked exactly like Percy. Black hair, tan, nickname, weapon, fatal flaw, voice, everything. He did things that came a close second to Perseus, but only just. He was the new wielder of Riptide, and he even acted like Percy. The only difference was his name, Andrew.

A couple of days later, after the fall of Gaea, he came up to me and asked me an unexpected question. "Who was Perseus Jackson? I've always been told I'm like him, but no one told me what they meant, what he did, or even looked like! Can you please help me?" I smiled decided the hero needed to know. "Do you see those green ashes in my hearth?" He looked a bit confused, but nodded nonetheless. "Those are the remains of Perseus Jackson. He did only one or two things more than you, and you are practically twins..." And so I told the story of Perseus Jackson, in hopes that his message will be carried down to his siblings.

**AN: What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Let me know. Your input is appreciated.**


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